Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan', saying he had promised employment to people, but instead handed them broomsticks.
'The message has gone loud and clear (among the people of Assam) that the BJP is only interested in polarising (the country) and they are basically interested in (capturing votes in) the Hindi heartland and they don't bother much about rest of India.'
A dominant force in the country's politics for decades, the grand old party's free fall continued as it lost Punjab to AAP and finished with just two seats out of 403 in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress on Thursday accused Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of not taking Mahatma Gandhi's name even once during his meetings.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit may not be contesting the assembly polls, but she is very much in the thick of preparations for the Congress. Dikshit tells Kavita Chowdhury that she is not interested in any post in Delhi politics but does not rule out a role at the national level in the future.
One was nabbed from the West Bengal-Jharkhand boundary in Birbhum, one from Rampurhat and the third from Malda district on Tuesday night, a police officer said.
After a meeting in the Parliament Library, the leaders of these parties issued a joint statement, expressing concern over the prevailing security situation in the country.
The Centre has directed security forces deployed in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to tighten vigil in the three states in view of intelligence reports which suggested that Naxals would try to carry out strikes in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
The senior Congress leader was in a coma since October last year, when he was admitted to AIIMS after he suffered a brain haemorrhage.
Mother and son refuse to go away despite indications blowing in the wind that their leadership is ringing the death knell of the party, observes Ramesh Menon.
The Congress on Wednesday expressed its disapproval of the move by some Members of Parliament writing to United States President Barack Obama, seeking denial of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying the "nation is bigger than politics".
Dubey demanded the removal of Tharoor, alleging that he was using his position in a discriminatory manner.
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday and Thursday.
'This move rendered the chiefs of important investigative agencies to the status of daily wage earners. It undermined the autonomy and independence of the agencies.'
Right from the great Muhammad Ali, who was an influential figure during the African-American Civil Rights Movement to Cte d'Ivoire footballer Didier Drogba, who had a major hand in bringing peace to his country, sports personalities across the world have always played huge roles in social and geopolitical movements. The scenario is no different in India, as a lot of sporting stars have taken the political plunge. Take a look at the sports personalities contesting in elections 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again led the BJP's campaign holding several rallies and stepping up his attack on Opposition parties, particularly the Congress.
Governors must be impartial, fair, and above narrow politics to uphold the values and spirit of the Constitution. But in a rapidly changing political culture where the unstated rule is to crush the Opposition, such values have no meaning. At stake are Constitutional values, federalism and governance, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The Congress president's election comes up early next year and party workers fear Sonia may pass on her mantle to Rahul. If that happens or if she continues to remain at the helm but Rahul calls the shots, there could be large scale desertions of workers and leaders worried about their future.
He also accused the Congress of delaying a solution to the Kashmir issue for seven decades.
The Congress Working Committee, the party's top-decision making body, would soon meet to deliberate further on the Chintan Shivir plans, the sources said.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has shot off a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker against Shashi Tharoor for speaking in public about his intention to summon Facebook officials without discussing the matter first in the parliamentary committee the Congress leader heads.
'The district administration failed and it was a very costly failure.'
The resurgence that Congressmen feel is in fact more sentimental than substantive. The substantive reality is that the Congress is a party in terminal decline since 1989, says Shekhar Gupta.
Patel, 71, the quintessential backroom strategist for the Congress, died at a Gurugram hospital in the early hours of Wednesday due to multiple organ failure more than a month after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal told the media after a meeting at party chief Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence that that the CWC was briefed on the discussion between NCP and Congress on Wednesday.
'Delhi 2015 is a warning of an intensifying nightmare in the offing.'
If not now, when, asks Virendra Kapoor.
When the Centre tries to encroach upon the subjects that are under the prerogative of the state, or where the centre tries to evade from any responsibility guaranteed to a state through a constitutional provision/obligation, it poses a threat to federalism.
He was allegedly attacked for his 'anti-Hindu' stance.
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
The government should not go in for an 'aggressive fiscal consolidation' in the upcoming Budget as global risks have not abated, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Member Ashima Goyal said on Wednesday. Goyal further said subsidies are expected to come down as food and energy inflation moderates. WPI inflation in food articles in November was 1.07 per cent against 8.33 per cent in the previous month.
The Union home ministry on Tuesday ruled out involvement of the army in anti-Naxal operations but said more paramilitary forces will be deployed for intensified operations in Maoists-hit areas to flush out the extremists.
'Was an NDA meeting held to decide if the Shiv Sena has to be removed from the NDA?'
Moily asserted that Gandhi continues to be the AICC president and he has not stepped down.
'The Congress has become two distinct parties, one of the durbar, the other of the field and if they keep drifting apart, death is a certainty,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Counting of votes is underway in assembly byelection to 58 seats in 11 states including Madhya Pradesh where the results will decide the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
The BJP has many ruthless leaders with super-sharp political minds. But none has all this and Yogi's charisma and personal ambition, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The Congress and the government engaged in a war of words in Lok Sabha on Tuesday over sedition cases with the opposition party alleging the stringent law is being misused, drawing a sharp retort from Union minister G Kishan Reddy who asked it not to lecture others on democracy.
All five RJD members abstained from voting, while Enos Ekka of Jharkhand Party, Independent Harinarayan Rai, Congress' Gopal Nath Sahadeo and Arup Chatterjee of the Marxist Coordination Committee were absent.
It will be presented in the Lok Sabha next week in its original form.
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